Construction Delays and Carrying Costs: How to Plan for a Moving Date

A new home's completion date is an estimate. Weather, permits, inspections, labor, materials and utility connections can all move it. Most builder contracts allow the builder to change the date, so the practical question is how to plan for that.

What a delay can cost you

Carrying costs are what you pay while you wait. Common ones:

• Housing. Rent or a short-term lease beyond your planned move date, or a second mortgage payment if you have already bought or not yet sold.
• Storage and moving. Storage fees, and rebooking movers.
• Rate-lock extensions. A rate lock lasts a set period. If settlement moves past it, extending it usually costs money, and a new lock may come at a higher rate.
• Selling your current home. A buyer for your current home may need you out by a fixed date.
• Time. Time off work for rescheduled inspections, walkthroughs and settlement.

Write down your monthly carrying cost. It tells you what each month of delay costs and how much flexibility to build in.

Read the contract's delay terms

Look for how the estimated date is stated, how much notice the builder must give of a change, whether there is an outside date after which you can cancel, and whether anything compensates you for a long delay. If an incentive requires closing by a certain date, find out what happens if the builder's schedule causes the miss. Our contract checklist includes these terms.

Plan your financing around the schedule

Ask your lender about lock lengths and the cost of extending them before you lock. Some lenders offer longer locks for new construction, and some builders' affiliated lenders offer extended locks as an incentive. Compare the cost of a longer lock with the likely cost of extensions.

Plan your move around the schedule

Where you can, keep flexibility: a month-to-month lease option, a rent-back from the buyer of your current home, or a settlement date for your sale that allows some slack. Confirm the settlement date only once the builder has the certificate of occupancy in sight.

Keep track

Ask for schedule updates in writing at each milestone, and keep a simple log of what you were told and when. It helps if you need to discuss a delay with the builder.

See also our construction timeline.